Outhouse marketing expert Dooz weighs in with his thoughts on the latest Marvel marketing scheme.

Note: While writing about brand strategy at The Short Shift,
I occasionally run across a story that involves comics and comics
companies. This is the first, and look for an interview with former
Marvel Comics Advertising Director Joe Maimone later this week.

Last week, io9 published an article about the new Marvel Comics character branded TVs from RTC23. Just let the lead image sink in for a bit….ok…

Now that you’re done with that, let’s talk about why this is a good idea gone wrong:

First off, and this is the easy one, it’s a bit of a juvenile niche
entry into a relatively big-ticket item category. I’m not going to
deride the sort of consumer base who would go for something like this,
but I don’t think it’s as big as either Marvel or RTC23 are hoping.
Yes, Marvel is a licensing machine, the biggest reason behind the Mouse
House’s decision to scoop up
the House of Ideas late last year, but this particular niche branding
strategy seems a bit of a stretch. I just don’t see people chomping at
the bit to bring Marvel branding into their homes in this way, which
brings us to the next point.

I do, however, see a great benefit in branding home
entertainment centers beyond electronic manufacturers’ static brand
marks. In fact, there’s already a great way to do it that keeps the TV
itself mark-free: digital media center interfaces. Plex and XBMC offer very open and robust skin options, and the Sony offers customizable theme options for the PS3, so why stick to static branding when you can create immersive and engaging in-media experiences?

This is happening. Right now. Courtesy of XBMC's Aeon skin.

Yes, these are free options, not a lot of room for licensing
dollars, and there’s not a huge population of consumers with digital
media centers (yet), but it does present an opportunity to develop a
rich and interactive consumer-brand experience. If companies truly
want to get more out of their branding dollars, they’re going to have
to get past the notion of packaging being the only way to go.
Technology is moving in such a direction that interactive in-home
electronic brand appearances are becoming the norm, and
skinning/theme-ing/whatever-you-want-to-call-it is a powerful tool in
the brand engagement department. I won’t begrudge Marvel the
opportunity to generate licensing revenue, just as I won’t begrudge
RTC23 using well respected characters/brands to sell their product, but
I will say that such a static strategy pales in comparison to the type
of branding-as-content today’s technology allows.

Full Disclosure: in the mid to late ’90s, I slept on/under Marvel Comics themed bedding and owned one of the coolest sheets ever made.

Comment without an Outhouse Account using Facebook

We get it. You don't feel like signing up for an Outhouse account, even though it's FREE and EASY! That's okay. You can comment with your Facebook account below and we'll take care of adding it to the stream above. But you really should consider getting a full Outhouse account, which will allow you to quote posts, choose an avatar and sig, and comment on our forums too. If that sounds good to you, sign up for an Outhouse account by clicking here.

Note: while you are welcome to speak your mind freely on any topic, we do ask that you keep discussion civil between each other. Nasty personal attacks against other commenters is strongly discouraged. Thanks!

Help spread the word, loyal readers! Share this story on social media: